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Combat Begins
President Bush announces the start of a war against Iraq. Allied Forces begin the campaign with strikes on military targets, including an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein. -
Period: to
War in Iraq
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Baghdad Falls
Saddam Hussein's rule collapses in a matter of hoursas much of Baghdad comes under American control. Across much of the capital Iraqis take to the streets to topple statues of Mr. Hussein, loot government ministries and interrogation centers, and give a cherring, often tearful welcome to advancing American troops. -
Bombing of U.N Headquarters
A suicide bomber drives a cement mixer full of explosives into the side of the United Nations compound in Baghdad and blows it up, killing 17 people and wounding at least 100 in an attack on one of the principal agencies in charge of rebuilding Iraq. Among the dead is Sergio Vieira de Mello, 55, the United Nations secretary general's special representative in Iraq. Mr. Vieira de Mello;s body is pulled from the wreckage by American Soldiers. -
Saddam Hussein Captured
Saddam Hussein, once the all-powerful leader of Iraq, is arrested without a fight by American soldiers who find him crouching in an eight-foot hole at an isolated farm near Tikrit. He is haggard, dirty and disoriented after eluding capture for nearly nine months. -
1,000 U.S Military Deaths
American Military deaths in Iraq operations surpass the 1,000 that insurgents control important parts of central Iraq and that is unclear when American and Iraq froces would be able to secure those areas. -
Free Elections Held
Defying death threats, mortar rounds and suicide bombers, Iraqis turn out in great numbers to vote in the country's first free elections in 50 years, offering a powerful, if uneven, endorsement of democratic rule 22 months after the overthrow of saddam Hussein. -
Samarra Shrine Is Bombed
A powerful bomb shatters the golden dome at the askariya Shrine in Samarra, one of Iraq's most revered Shiite shrines, setting off a day of sectarian fury in which mobs chant for revenge and attack dozens of Sunni mosques. -
Obama Declared End to Combat Operations in Iraq
President Obama declares an end to the seven-year American combat mission in Iraq, saying that the United States has met its responsibility to that country and that it is now time to turn to pressing promblems at home. -
War In Iraq Officially Ends
United States forces declared a formal end to their operations in Iraq during a ceremony in Baghdad even as violence continued to plague the country and the Muslim world remained leery of America power. In Baghdad, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta thanked the more than one million American service members who have served in Iraq for " the remarkable progress" made over the past nine years but acknowledged the sereve challenges that face the struggling democracy. -
2,000 U.S Military Deaths
The nation pays grim tribute to the 2,000 service killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
